Photos: GOES-S launches, joining NOAA’s fleet of high-definition weather satellites
Thousands of people converged on Cape Canaveral, Florida, to watch NOAA’s newest weather satellite launch on Thursday afternoon.
GOES-S is the second of a new generation of geostationary weather satellites, joining GOES-16, which launched on Nov. 19, 2016 and has sent back incredible images of hurricanes and severe weather over the past year.
Meteorologists from all across the country gathered at Cape Canaveral, Florida on Thursday to watch the rocket launch, including AccuWeather Weather News Reporter Jonathan Petramala.
The engines of the Atlas V rocket carrying the weather satellite roared to life at 5:02 p.m. EST as thousands of people looked on from viewing spots across the region.
The Atlas V is the same type of rocket used to launch the GOES-16 weather satellite, as well as historic missions such as the Mars Curiosity Rover and the New Horizons space probe, the only human-built object to visit Pluto.
It will take the new satellite a little over two weeks to reach geostationary orbit, when it will be officially renamed GOES-17.
After going through a non-operational testing period, GOES-17 will go into service providing high-resolution weather data from the Unites States to the western Pacific Ocean.
The satellite will provide meteorologists with the first high-resolution weather data for Alaska and Hawaii, better fire detection in the western United States and will help improve tropical cyclone forecasts for systems in the Pacific Ocean.
(Photo/@astrogeo)
